Johnathan Thurston was man of the match for Australia in the Test win against New Zealand in Sydney. Photograph: Steve Christo/Corbis

Australia equalled the record of 16 consecutive Test victories, set by the Kangaroos who became known as the Invincibles between 1979-83, on Friday but had to come from behind to win 30-18 in Sydney against a reshaped New Zealand team who will look to the Four Nations series with greater confidence.

New Zealand, who were missing several injured mainstays such as Issac Luke and Kieran Foran having chosen to overlook Sonny Bill Williams and several of their other big names, held a shock 18-12 lead at half-time, with the former Hull prop Sam Moa scoring one of their three tries.

Australia dominated the second half with Billy Slater, the Melbourne Storm full-back whose selection had caused some controversy, playing an increasingly prominent role. He was involved in the buildup to tries from Greg Inglis, his main rival for the full-back position who was again selected at centre, and a second for the St George Illawarra wing Brett Morris – leaving the pair joint fifth on Australia's all-time list of scorers with 23, 12 behind Darren Lockyer's record.

Cooper Cronk scored Australia's fifth try to complete the scoring, with Johnathan Thurston converting all five in a man of the match performance. It was a far tighter contest than the last meeting of the teams in the World Cup final at Old Trafford in November, when the Kangaroos regained their title with a 34-2 win. They will aim for a record-breaking 17th win in the first match of the Four Nations series, also against the Kiwis at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on 25 October.

England will discover on Saturday the opposition for their first game of the tournament, also in Brisbane as part of a double-header. They will play the winners of a Pacific challenge between Fiji and Samoa, who earned an elimination match through their performances in the World Cup –when Fiji beat Samoa to reach the semi finals at Wembley.

Salford have confirmed the signing of the New Zealand Warriors full-back Kevin Locke, who will join them next season on a three-year contract. Locke has been displaced at the Warriors by England's full-back Sam Tomkins but the Salford coach Iestyn Harris said he would become "the most exciting full-back in the Super League competition".

Salford are in France this weekend to face a Catalan Dragons team who have climbed above them in the table with four wins in their last five matches after failing to take a point from their first five of the season. The winners in Perpignan will pull level with Hull, Huddersfield and Warrington who occupy the last three of the eight play-off positions. But they are all in action on Sunday afternoon.

Huddersfield would seem to have the toughest test against a Castleford team riding high in the top four but their coach Paul Anderson detected signs in consecutive Easter wins that the Giants may be approaching the 2013 form which secured the League Leaders Shield.

Warrington go to Bradford in a fixture that will be repeated in the Challenge Cup quarter finals next month. Kirk Yeaman is doubtful for Hull's game at struggling Wakefield after suffering a calf injury in training.

Like their cross city rivals, Hull KR have had almost a fortnight to recover from the Easter programme as a result of their early cup exits, but they will be missing the Australian prop Justin Poore for Sunday's home game against Widnes after he suffered a broken kneecap in the defeat against the Catalans in Perpignan on Easter Monday.